


This World Is Yours

by kindalikethis



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindalikethis/pseuds/kindalikethis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gift fic #72 prompt 3.  Tony Stark is a god and it is time he realized it.  Loki's going to make him realize it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This World Is Yours

**Author's Note:**

> My gift for the frostiron fest! I really hope you like it! (Truthfully, I wish I could have spent more time on this and gone into more detail, etc. Cue lots of fist shaking at way too much overtime.)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  
― C.S. Lewis

 

 

Tony doesn’t remember a lot of things. Let’s be honest, he’s Tony fucking Stark and he’s spent a lot of time blackout drunk. The conference he didn’t remember giving? Apparently, the speech went well. One thing he remembers - that he can’t forget - is being on in his back in the sand, blood spreading through his suit jacket and panic because he’s dead, he’s dying and he isn’t getting up from this.

But he did get up, thanks to Yinsen and a battery.

There were other times, a lot more if he was honest, but he didn’t think much of it. After all, he was Tony Stark, and shouldn’t that be enough of a reason?

Maybe he should have thought about it more.

 

\----------

 

The stars are bright around him, clear and lovely and horrible and Tony’s chest tightens with a familiar panic. He let’s go of the nuke and the suit powers down. Freefall, twice in one day. It has to be a record. He licks his lips, it hurts to breath and his eyes feel dry. He didn’t get to say goodbye to Pepper. He’s falling, staring up at a vast blackness and stars that are not his own. Didn’t he once know every star, every constellation? He’s falling and it feels nothing like flying.

Then, he’s waking up, Hulk’s large green body above him and the only thing he can say is: “What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

Captain America is smiling down at him. Who’d have thought? The news he delivers is the best he has heard all day. “We won.”

Thank god. Tony laughs, but it’s pinched and twisted like his suit. “Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it.”

Later, after shawarma and a shower and a night of fitful sleep Fury calls to get a debrief. Tony’s not a soldier, so he argues just because he can. Plus, it’s too damn early. After the last few days, anything before three-pm better be an emergency. Scratch that, he’s had enough of emergencies.

“Consultant, Fury, consultant.” Tony is staring up at his ceiling, still in rumbled sweats with a coffee cup delivered via Dummy resting on his stomach. “Jarvis, read our good friend Nick the definition of consultant and while you’re at it, remind him of my office hours.”  
“Stark.” Tony can hear Fury’s teeth grind, thank you surround-sound. “Meeting at fourteen-hundred hours.”

“I can’t speak military.”

“Agent Romanov will be picking you up.” The line went dead. Great.

“Jarvis, buddy, how long do I got?” The bed in this room wasn’t comfortable. Not like the one higher up, closer to the destroyed sections of the tower. To be honest, he wasn’t ready to begin the repairs. He wasn’t ready to go back up there.

“Approximately two hours, sir.”

“Of course.” Tony grunted and pushed himself up with his free hand, slopping a bit of coffee on his pants. He took a long, bitter sip. Lukwarm. He’d need more coffee to deal with this. Coffee and alcohol. He had some Irish cream somewhere.

Tony sat outside on his, admittedly grand and ruined front steps, as Natasha drove up in a predictable black car. He’d pulled his own car, a Saleen S7 with a beautiful bright orange body and enough curves to rival Natasha, up and left it sitting in the lawn. No way was he taking SHIELD standard.

“You look lovely, as always, Natasha. So good to see you, sans apocalypse.”

Natasha didn’t smile, but she did walk around to the passenger side and open the door, motioning him in. “Get in, Stark.”

Tony pulled his sunglasses down from his head and over his eyes. “How ‘bout a race?”

Natasha grinned, fierce. “I don’t think you’ll be able to keep up.” She slipped back into the car and Tony couldn’t help but slide his sunglasses down just a bit to better look at her ass. He turned before she caught him doing it and slid into his own car, revving the engine. If he had to go to a briefing, might as well make it worth his while. New York traffic was a bitch, but out of the city and pulling passed SHIELD’s ugly black monstrosity he could almost forget the ping of Loki’s scepter hitting his chest and the dead weight of the suit pulling him down.

Three hours later with a fuming Nick Fury, an awkward circle of Avengers and no decent coffee and Tony regretted his decision to come.

“The scepter didn’t work.”

Tony looked at Bruce, who happened to be staring intently into his tea. Tea. He got tea and all Tony got was shitty coffee. He wanted a steaming hot espresso. He saved the world yesterday, he deserved it.

“Is there an echo in here, Nick? I thought we went over this story about five times now.”

Tony kept his eyes focused unerringly on Nick. He didn’t want to look to the right and see Clint staring at him. Nick Fury looked every inch of his name; jaw clenched and arms crossed. “You’re telling me that the big blue box of energy had no effect because of your arc reactor technology.”

“That’s what I’m telling you...for the fifth time. I’m beginning to feel like Bastian Bux, work with me here.”

Bruce looked up from his tea. “Do you think we could have mitigated the effects of the Tesserac through the arc reactor technology stationed in Stark tower?”

Tony contemplated the same thing last night while lying in bed and staring at the blank ceiling with the after images of stars in his eyes every time he closed to them to try and sleep. “No way to know now with no blue box of failed doom to test our theories on.”

Fury smiled and it wasn’t the type of smile to give anyone, especially Tony, warm and fuzzies. He inclined his head toward Natasha and she got up, motioning for Clint and Steve to follow her. Bruce stood and Fury focused all that smug attention onto him. “Sit down, Doctor Banner. And don’t look at me like that, this is not a threat, this an invitation to two Avengers - yes, two - and Tony I do believe you will be working during your consulting hours from now on.”

Fury turned toward the window that overlooked a bland road and sprawling green farmland near Lake Champlain. SHIELD attempting to go green and failing.

“The Tesserac, as you both know, was an object of immense power. Not the kind of power the Allfather would let us little mortals keep. But, he was willing to grant us a...boon, for the delivery of his artifact.”

Tony turned all of his attention from fiddling with his phone to Nick. “What kind of boon?”

“A magical cage.” Banner blanched, hands clenching around his cup. Tony raised his eyebrows to urge Fury on.

“And a god.”

“No!” Tony stood and Bruce lept to his feet at well. “Out of the question.”

Bruce clearly agreed, because in a rare show of temper he yelled. “We’ve had enough of his crazy!”

“We did just get rid of him, seeing him so soon...it sort of ruins the family reunion, don’t you think? I say let Thor keep him.” Tony slipped his sunglasses up so Fury could see how very serious he was. Serious enough that he was very, very glad he decided to wear his bracelets.

“And lose this chance to study alien physiology? To reap nothing from the disaster they brought?”

“I think we’ve reaped enough.” Bruce’s skin shimmered with green. Tony placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t understand how this is a discussion we are even having,” Tony said. Nick’s face didn’t betray anything but he looked tense in a way that Tony hadn’t noticed before.

“We’re having this discussion, Stark, because whether you and Banner accept it or not Loki is coming here, in a magical cage, as a gift. There have been provisions, courtesy of the Allfather, but what we can learn from this is far greater than any threat the God of Mischief can conjure up.”

“I highly doubt the Allfather wants us to dissect his son, adopted or not.” Bruce’s hands were clenched at his side.

Tony couldn’t agree with Bruce more. “Sorry Nick, I’m not one for torture.”

“Apparently, torture isn’t on the menu. Just a very long-term prison sentence and the offer of knowledge,” Fury said.

“If,” Bruce added, “we can get the crazy god to talk.”

“And that, gentlemen, will be your challenge. I wish you luck.”

“We haven’t agreed yet,” Tony said, just to be contrary. But the main point was yet. Tony couldn’t pass up another chance at getting into the head of tall, dark and scary - but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t get paid dearly for it. And if he wanted to stick around and plant a few bugs here and there to see what Nick was hiding, well, no one needed to know.

Loki arrived on planet Earth for the second time 3 months later. Tony got a nice view from the window of one of the labs as he walked by, flanked by Asgardian guards, way too much medieval armor, and a whole lot of chains. They’d even chained his hips - his hips - and Tony couldn’t help but wonder why. What was he going to do, dance his way to freedom?

Bruce sat in the lab with him, staring determinedly down at a few preemptive notes and ideas they’d been discussing until Loki passed. Tony clapped to get his attention. “Well, Santa and his posse just passed, so I think in thirty minutes we can go check out the magical cage they’ve been setting up for the last month and then go get some coffee. What do you say?”

Bruce huffed a laugh. “Sounds good. Not good as in--”

Tony waved him off. “Trust me, I know how you feel. The only good thing about this is getting to rub the secret of we-know-and-you-don’t in Steve’s face.”

Bruce warmed slightly and smiled. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of classified?”

“Please, like Natasha doesn’t know. We’re only doing the world a service by keeping spangles in the know.”

Thirty minutes later and Bruce took one look at the magic-box now with one Loki added and decided he needed a caffeinated beverage a little earlier than planned. Tony decided to take notes for him and meet him at the cafe.

Honestly, the cage looked flimsier than what SHIELD had before, but Tony knew from Loki’s previous tricks that Asgardian magic didn’t need to look fancy to have a large kick. He’d seen Loki double with gesture and attack with a flick of his fingers. Still, only three months had passed and Loki looked...better in some ways. He no longer wore leathers but plain brown pants and a tunic of green. He lacked the embellishments he wore before that glinted at wrist and collar and also - thank god - that ugly goat helmet. Despite that, he looked filled-out and less pinched. Funny how losing seemed to do him well. Maybe it only meant he was biding his time?

“That must suck. Probation sentence serving us humans for your very, very long life. How long is that sentence again? A thousand years? Several thousand? Oh wait, life. That’s right.” Tony peered into the not-glass cage. It was clear but rippled with a golden light that promised to break a lot of scientific theories. Tony couldn’t wait to start getting readings on it, even if he had to look at the captive inside.

Loki didn’t look bothered by his sentence. He sat slumped against the magic-wall and the Allfather clearly felt strongly about this cage - for Loki was no longer chained. When Tony spoke, Loki slowly turned his head in order to face him, his unbound hair longer and less tame than Tony remembered. “I merely have to wait. Wait until you and yours release me.”

Tony scoffed. “Release you? Keep dreaming Rover.”

Loki smiled and Tony remembered a similar smile right before being bodily lifted and thrown through a window. “Remember this conversation, Man of Iron. I hope it is you who lifts the magic binding me to this cell.”

“If I wanted a wild time, I’d hardly look to you. You’re not my kind of crazy.” Tony took one last glance at the cage, at Loki’s smile, gathered his notes and left. He needed that coffee.

 

\--------

 

The coffee was clearly to blame for Tony being unable to sleep. Honestly, it wasn’t that surprising. He had a hard time sleeping most days; bright stars searing across his vision and mixing with his own voice crying I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll build the Jericho and another echo of I can’t die, I won’t die, don’t you know who I am?

Curled up in his garage, choking on his own breath with Jarvis’s voice in his ears was a new low, even for him.

 

\--------

 

Two weeks later, Bruce’s meticulous chicken scratch for notes - very organized but very indecipherable - and Tony came to the conclusion that their alien guest really was waiting for something to happen. All he’d done, in the four days a week he and Bruce spent musing over his cage and scanning it with every tool they’d had available, was read. He had a few books, a small table that generated food three times a day, and an uncomfortable looking cot. Tony got bored just looking at him.

“So what’s this grand master waiting game you got going on?” Bruce looked up as he spoke and watched Loki carefully from the corner of his eye. Loki didn’t even deign to give him his attention.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, Blitzer.” Tony stood in front of the cage, knocking on it with his fist. They’d come to the conclusion that no matter how translucent it sometimes looked the cage was exceptionally hardy.

Loki continued to read.

A waiting game, then.

 

\--------

 

It wasn’t that Tony forgot that Loki was dangerous - it was just - well, Loki was boring. He didn’t do much and Tony checked the security footage, he didn’t do much even when no one else was around.

Bruce was going to be late today. Something about radiation and Fury, which meant Tony only had Loki and his coffee for company. Coffee from his own machine, thank you. SHIELD just had poor ground bullshit, in more ways than one. Jarvis still hadn’t found anything interesting after digging past their security. Tony knew there had to be something.

“ _Jesus Christ_ \--” Tony fumbled his coffee and stared, then shook his head. It wasn’t shocking it was just coffee jitters. He’d had a late night, like always, and walking into the lab to see Loki standing up, alert and staring at him -- just not the sort of thing he wants to see in the morning.

Loki was still staring; following with his eyes in a way that was pure predator. Tony took a gulp of coffee and then moved closer, frowning when Loki said nothing.

“What, no good morning?”

Loki didn’t need to reply, his interest was clear in the way he matched Tony movement for movement, following him as Tony paced the length of the cage.

He really, really didn’t want to put his back to Loki, but he had bravado and a lot of confidence in the magic cage - after all, he had tested it - and Loki’s green-eyed stare unnerved him. Tony turned back to yesterday’s notes. “You’re awfully perky today my green-eyed damsel of evil. Anything you’d like to share?”

“You are different,” Loki spoke low, his words inviting.

“Of course I am, sweetheart. I’m Iron Man.” Tony took a gulp of coffee to help still some of the words wanting to come up but his flippant response didn’t seem to please the God of Mischief.

“Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist. But...that’s not all, is it?” Loki’s hooded eyes watched him keenly. Tony leaned against the counter to hide his surprise.

“Not much about me that everyone doesn’t know already.”

Loki pressed both palms against the clear wall, leaning closer. “What about something you don’t know?”

Tony grinned and set his coffee down on the lab table, crossing his arms across his chest. “Are you going to be my shrink then? Give me a bit of guidance about myself and my fantastic personality?”

“But Man of Iron, it isn’t about _you_.”

After that, Loki turned back to his book and read for the rest of the day, a smile lingering as he ignored any and all insults and comments Tony threw his way.

 

\------

 

Tony mostly forgot all about Loki’s comments the next day in lieu of flying for his life.

Why was it always robots? Robots and crazy megalomaniacs that would never be as good as him but were clearly trying and failing. Steve, a red, white and blue blur down on the city streets, decapitated an unmanned Iron Man wannabe.

Clint jumped between roofs shooting arrow after arrow into the joints of machines that were as small as monkeys and as agile, but with a way meaner left-hook. Tony tried to outrun the jet slash transformer (only it seemed to have gotten stuck halfway but shoddy mechanics, what could you do?).

Bruce was being mean and green in Central Park which was overrun with machines. It was starting to feel like Terminator and Natasha, kicking ass in black leather, looked like a way hotter Sarah Connor.

Only in Terminator, the heroes tended to win, and Tony really felt like he was losing because despite the shit-tastic mechanics, the firepower and awesome strength of the machines dented his machine more than Obadiah ever had.

“Shit, shit, shit-- Bruce, buddy, I need a hand here!” A hand latched on to his suit, the metal twisting inward to crunch around his ankle before yanking him straight toward a building and through a brick wall. Tony fell head first before rolling to a stop. His foot, hot and wet with blood, hurt like a bitch. He cursed, tried to get up while Jarvis informed him that several functions were down. Before he could gain his footing, an armored hand slammed hard into his chest plate, tossing him back.

Gasping, Tony fired up his thrusters and made a fumbling escape through an office hallway. He found some respite in a small, corner kitchen. He couldn’t walk, the pain in his ankle too excruciating, and everything seemed to tilt sideways. Blood loss. He laughed, a bitter choked sound because of course his comms were down.

Standing hurt too much, so slumping down to wait didn’t seems like such a bad idea. His ankle throbbed in time with his heart beat. He flipped up his faceplate to get some fresh air.

Why did everything hurt? The punch to the chest hadn’t been that hard, had it?

But Man of Iron, it isn’t about you.

He wanted to know what Loki meant. Fuck this battle and this mad maker of machines and the blood dripping out of his alloy joints - something about what Loki said tickled his memory. Made him think of that punch to the chest and the arc reactor that powered both his machines and his heart.

I can’t die, he thought. Not like this.

_Don’t you know who I am? I’m Tony fucking Stark--_

I’m--

Get up, don’t just lay here, get up. And Tony got up. He limped to an exit just as the fight was winding down.

 

\-----

 

Loki was standing again when Tony and Bruce arrived a couple days after the Terminator fiasco. He, again, watched Tony like a cat watched a mouse. Hungry, but willing to play first. Bruised and limping, Tony wished he could foist Loki’s stare onto Bruce. Mr. Green didn’t even have a scratch - though he would never complain about it to Bruce.

Bruce raised his eyebrows at Loki’s change, it was the first he’d seen of it. “Ignore it,” Tony advised.

Loki didn’t say anything, but not once did he take his eyes off Tony’s frame.

Tony lay awake that night, mulling over Loki’s sudden attention. Were there any other hints he’d missed? What exactly was the other man’s angle? There was no way they would ever let him go. Nothing he could offer that would let them take down the magical barriers - and Fury did have a way, courtesy of the Allfather. Though maybe the Asgardians knew something they didn’t, otherwise, why leave that failsafe in place?

Some other threat they didn’t know about? Tony was too tired to think clearly.

There was a lot of space out there; familiar stars, he thought as he drifted off, familiar stars he once knew.

 

\------

 

Loki sat in his cell, without his book, without looking at either Tony or Bruce. His head bent so that his chin touched his chest, his hair swinging forward to hide his face. Tony, curious, strode up to the cage while he reviewed some calculations on his tablet. They’d hit a bit of a snag regarding the cage barriers. They were able to detect it now, but couldn’t make head or tails of the material substance and how it was sustained. Loki looked asleep, though the clenching and unclenching of his hands said otherwise.

His mouth was moving, though no sounds escaped. He threw a projection off his tablet, turning it so it faced Loki. “Jarvis, you getting that? Can you translate it?”

“I’m afraid the lip movements do not match any known language, sir.”

“Damn. So much for learning his heart’s desire.” Bruce laughed and Tony turned to flash him a grin. The cage walls lit with gold, flashing brilliantly before sputtering. Loki’s head swung sideways, as if pushed by a great force and he caught himself with his hands before smacking into the cell floor. His next inhale shuddered, much like his body, before he turned and noticed them. Wiping all expression from his face, Loki pick up a book with trembling hands.

Tony wanted to review the footage, just so he could cut everything so the action slowed in order to better see the minute details he must have missed.

“Something you want to share, Acrobat Jack?”

Loki straightened, before pinning him with a look. His face was pale. “Do you wish to have a conversation with another God, Stark?”

“Sure, I need some more blessings in my life.” Tony could see Bruce in the corner of his eye, watching everything with intense scrutiny.

Loki turned and grinned. “Blessings. Most gods do not hand out blessings. Cease your petty human thoughts. And let me _speak clearly, you of forgotten yolk, Loki does not forsake you_.”

Something, Tony thought as he backed away, was not right. Loki’s voice, normally a smooth, low pleasant cadence, seemed to suddenly grate harshly with a low, spitting sound.

Loki laughed and Tony looked to Bruce, who was staring in concern at both of them. Screw this, Tony thought, he needed to review the security footage again.

Bruce stepped toward him. “Tony, what did you hear?”

He laughed, of course it wasn’t English. He’d understood though, and Bruce could tell by his face. Maybe it had something to do with the Allspeak.

He waved Bruce through the door. “I’ll meet you to review the footage, that was definitely not English...right?”

Bruce nodded. “The first part was, but it definitely wasn’t at the end. Were you able to understand him the whole time?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I could understand it. Didn’t make much sense, but then what does when it comes from his mouth?”

Good ol’ Bruce didn’t say anything to discourage him of that thought. But then, he probably agreed.  
As Tony left, slipping into a bathroom to splash cold water on his face, he stared down at his shaking hands. What was wrong with him? He looked up in the mirror but Loki’s words kept repeating in his mind. _Loki does not forsake you_.

An answering thought: _Loki does not forsake me_.

Reviewing the footage with Bruce, Tony couldn’t help but stare at the faint shudder that wracked Loki’s body, magnified on the screen, and he reviewed a couple times just to watch. Loki was a liar, but he was a damn good one because the grimace on his face looked real. The twist of his neck as his head snapped to the side seemed impossible to make without some type of force.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Bruce shrugged. “It looks like someone hit him, but there is no one in there with him. I don’t understand what angle he is trying to play. Does Jarvis have the readings back from the fluctuation yet?”

“Not yet.” Tony started the security from the top. Watching it again for the fourth time didn’t change what he heard. The last part, the part he had understood before which had been incomprehensible to Bruce, no longer made sense. There was no understanding except in his own memory, what Tony knew he’d heard even though now the guttural sounds were just that - sounds.

He discussed it briefly with Bruce, flirting with the idea of altering what Loki said, before dismissing the idea. There was no need to lie. Not yet, at least. Bruce didn’t seem to know what to make of Loki’s words either. Only that Loki, for whatever reason, wanted his attention. Definitely, Tony thought, he had something Loki wanted.

Tony looked at the live security feed and Loki looked back, head tilted to stare straight into the camera. He didn’t know what Loki wanted, but he’d find out soon enough.

The wail of sirens broke Tony’s sleep. Multiple sirens. Tony rolled over, fumbling for his phone. It was still dark and it took him a moment to realize that he was no longer in a dream and that the scream of police cars and ambulances was a real thing.

“Jarvis?”

No answer. The building shook and Tony scrambled up. Hastily searching his bed, his hand knocked into his bracelets under his pillow. “Fuck fuck fuck.” Tony slipped them on, calling his suit but Iron Man didn’t come. The sirens joined a chorus of explosions. He fumbled for some clothes, pocketed his cellphone and ran for the lower basements.

The elevator didn’t work and none of the lights would turn on. Tremors started up and if Godzilla was walking outside Tony better have his suit on. He passed a window, the city spread out below him. The night sky was darker than he’d ever seen it, the stars bright with no building lights to diminish their glow. Jesus. New York, his city - his fucking city - the damn city that never slept was turned off like a nightlight that’d been unplugged. Sirens, their red and blue lights flashing, were the only lights Tony could see. Every street light, building light, billboard movie and glowing sign was off. There were no cell phones illuminating faces but there were flickers of flashlights.

Tony made it down to the basement level, cursing when he couldn’t engage the lock. Okay, okay, he had a car. Time to make a trip outside and see what was going on and as much as he didn’t like it, report to SHIELD because this had invasion written all over it. Or it would, if aliens were falling out of the sky, which they weren’t.

Manually opening the door on his garage and slipping into one of his cars, the fastest one, he peeled out of his driveway, headlights on because hitting pedestrians was bad. Even if there were stupid enough to be out on the street.

When he arrived at the base, SHIELD wasn’t much better. The building was dark, though personnel were using flashlights and battery-powered spotlights to brighten the interior.

Fury was striding toward him. “Stark, any ideas?”

Tony shook his head. “None. My electronics don’t work, along with my suit. At this point, I’m just glad this is still working,” Tony said as he slapped a hand on his chest.

Fury nodded, tight lipped. “We are having the same issue. Looks like we are on backup battery for now, though you may be interested to note that Loki’s containment cell is still fully powered, and that he is down there laughing like the crazy god he is.

“Laughing?”

Fury didn’t looked pleased by this development and Tony couldn’t blame him.

“Laughing like the loon he is. Go down and see for yourself. Agent Schmidt, escort Stark down to Loki’s cell. I have several agents out doing cleanup, most of the city is just looting and panicking. There haven’t been any alerts as to any unusual activity aside from the power outage.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

“It is for now, until we find out the real reason.” Fury nodded toward the agent, who stepped up and motioned toward one of the doors.

“I don’t need an escort.”

“You do when all security checks have to be manual,” Fury answered as he strode away.

Fury, true to his word, was right about Loki being batshit because he was sitting on his cot laughing. True, shoulder-shaking laughter, head thrown back to expose a slim, pale throat. Tony swallowed and took a step forward until the glow of the magic illuminated him.

Loki immediately stopped laughing, but a smile still curled on his mouth. Gesturing towards Tony, he indicated the latch that would break the magic barrier. “Come to set me free, Man of Iron?”

“No,” Tony said, walking closer still. “Any particular reason why you think that?”

Loki grinned and for once, wasn’t being tight lipped about his reasons. “Thanos has come to your world. You will need a god or two to vanquish him.”

Grinning, Tony took in Loki’s delighted appearance; flushed cheeks and an energy that left him gesturing grandly. “A god like you?”

A small, secretive smile. “Or a god like you,” Loki said as a explosion so big it rocked the building and knocked Tony off his feet. The magic holding Loki flickered but didn’t cease.

“What--?”

Gunshots. Definitely sounded like a lot of gunshots and with no suit Tony dived behind Loki’s prison. But there were no footsteps coming his way, instead a loud roar, like the shriek of a train and a second explosion that caused the foundation to crack.

Loki was pressed up the side of the cage, staring intently at him.

“He’s come for me to pay me for my failure. Let me go, Man of Iron, and he will have no reason to rend your world apart.”

“Fat chance, Rudolph.”

Agent Schmidt rushed into the room, a radio in one hand and were they seriously back in the primitive stage?

“Stark,” Fury’s voice demanded, “let Loki go.”

“What? No!” Tony grabbed the radio. “Are you crazy?”

Fury’s voice was stricken. “Stark, this is bigger than the Avengers this is--” A muffled explosion and then crackling. Shit. Tony stared at the radio in dismay. How could all this happen so fast? Had Fury been hiding the information of this attack?

He turned to Loki who was watching him.

“This is no Chitauri, this is a being beyond the nine realms.”

“Who you partnered with! Like hell I’m letting you go.” But it was time to get out of this building before it fell around him. He moved to leave but the ground around him buckled and he was lifted into the air and slammed into the magic barrier. Big, red and ugly stood at the entrance to the room, staring at Loki with a cruel smile.

“Little prince. Did I not say I would find you?”

“You did,” Loki acknowledged with a tilt of his head.

“Did I not say I would make you wish for death, if you failed me?”

Loki nodded, turning his eyes to Tony. “You did.”

Tiny unnoticeable mortal, Tony couldn’t be more thankful for his status. Also, lesser of the two evil was clearly Loki, go with the big bad you knew. Tony spun on his heel and punched in the key code to unlock the cage. The barriers flickered and disappeared. Loki vanished from sight.

That little traitor, Tony thought as Thano’s attention turned to him, rage twisting his misshapen face even more. “Mortal worm,” he said, flinging his hand toward Tony and lifting him up with nothing more than a gesture. He slammed hard into the wall, head cracking against the plaster. That really, really hurt and he could feel warm blood trickling down his neck.

Magic gripped him, compressing his chest like a vice. Loki flashed into view and Tony was dropped to the ground before a cool hand grabbed his own and he was tugged into blackness, various cities he vaguely recognized flickering into view. Tokyo, London, Milan, and once more he was flat on his back in the sand, in a desert Tony knew had to be Afghanistan.

Tony’s lips were coated with blood and Loki pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Stark, didn’t I say that I hoped you would be the one to free me?”

Choking on a laugh, Tony shook his head. “You’re not my kind of crazy.”

“I’m exactly your kind.” Loki pressed slim fingers to his flickering arc reactor. “Look at your world burn. What good is a god, without those to worship him?”

Tony stared up; through the smoke and clouds there were bright stars. Hadn’t he known every star once, as a child peering up through his bedroom window eye pressed tight against a telescope.

Loki leaned closer and spoke into his ear. “Wake up, Stark.”

The arc reactor sputtered and then died. Tony felt a familiar panic as blackness ate at his vision. Loki’s bright green eyes blotted out the stars. Tony heaved a breath, and then another. His eyes shut.

 _Loki does not forsake you_.

Tony woke up. His arc reactor flickered into life, a small blue star in the darkness of desert. Above him, Loki smiled and Tony, for the first time, remembered.

“Tell me, Stark. Who are you?”

Tony grinned and grabbed a fistfull of Loki’s hair, pulling him close enough that his lips brushed Loki’s own.

_I’m Tony fucking Stark._

I’m--

“I’m a god.”

“Not just any god,” Loki whispered, his words fanning Tony’s lips as his hand trailed down his collar to touch the arc reactor.

Tony shuddered and closed his eyes, but the stars seemed to burn inside his mind. He remembered and it hurt and felt wonderful and Loki was--

Loki was chaos. The God of Chaos.

Cool lips pressed against his own. Loki was still whispering words against his mouth. _You are--_

The God of Change. And all great changes were preceded by chaos.

Tony curled his fingers against Loki’s back. He’d give them all a reason to worship. Thanos couldn’t have his world. Not Earth. Not Midgard.

He wasn’t just Tony Stark, he was a god. He stood, Loki at his side and stared out into the vast desert where he first built his name from the scrapes. It was time to make some changes.


End file.
